The ability to implement and maintain improvement initiatives like Lean and Six Sigma is essential for improving quality, eliminating waste, reducing costs, and increasing output—but it’s only the first step. Eventually, the improve-sustain-improve-sustain pattern itself becomes the end product. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Why make operational improvement a perpetual process when you can make business growth a perpetual process?

In this trailblazing book, Kevin Duggan—author of Creating Mixed Model Value Streams and founder of the Institute for Operational Excellence and Duggan Associates—takes you beyond Lean and Six Sigma to achieve true Operational Excellence. By developing a “design for operational excellence” you can leverage the operations side of the business to enable continuous growth.

Design for Operational Excellence provides the design criteria and guidelines that enable you to grow your business organically by refocusing management’s attention from running the business to growing the business. Duggan takes you step by step through the new principles of Operational Excellence:

Design Lean Value Streams

Make Lean Value Streams Flow

Make Flow Visual

Create Standard Work for Flow

Make Abnormal Flow Visual

Create Standard Work for Abnormal Flow

Have Employees in the Flow Improve the Flow

Perform Offense Activities

Case studies illustrate how companies that applied Duggan’s methods grew consistently over time by designing and implementing a lean flow of product to the customer. The result was a flow that “self healed” when interruptions occurred, which removed the need to manage flow. These methods work in any business environment, not just manufacturing. Everything from insurance, financial, and banking organizations to hospitals, mining companies, universities, and even government can benefit from the bottom-line and topline business results Duggan’s methodology offers. Design for Operational Excellence is the next great leap in the evolution of sustained business growth. Begin designing for growth now and stop reacting to customer needs. Instead, position your operation to provide customer solutions in changing markets, which will lead to profit and growth in even the most severe economic and market downturns.

product dimensions: 1 x 9.25 x 6.25 inches

"Once I began reading this book I almost couldn't stop...Why couldn't I stop? Because Duggan's strategy changes process improvement from a long-term series of projects toward some vaguely defined future state into something community banks can plan for and accomplish in pretty short order, using just a few of the continuous improvement tools developed over the past 30 years.

Operational excellence is something that all organizations strive for, but most operational excellence plans tend to revolve around vision statements that aren't actionable.

Duggan defines a very simple, logical path companies can follow to jump to an operational excellence destination that is real and teachable--something that will bring tangible business growth to organizations that follow his roadmap.

I recommend you read the book...have your senior management team read the book and schedule a four-hour session as soon as you can."

Robert Hess,
CEO of TSG, Inc.

“Kevin Duggan’s book teaches us that for true success, we need to connect our improvements so that we achieve a destination of Operational Excellence that will drive business growth. All of the case studies Duggan provides are excellence examples of companies that have designed and implemented a lean flow, engaged their workforce, had a clear destination for the business, and were able to grow the business consistently over time. The design works! The results are clear!”

Jeffrey K. Liker,
Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering,
University of Michigan
Author of the The Toyota Way

"Design for Operational Excellence presents numerous examples that people who have been disappointed by purely technical approaches to operational challenges are bound to appreciate."

Business Digest, March 2012

"A terrific book, very thought provoking."

John Bicheno, Editorial Director,
Lean Management Journal

"Design for Operational Excellence is a blueprint for a joined up, end-to-end designed operation that makes Operational Excellence a reality. The book excellently outlines the process of creating flow that every employee can see and, most importantly, fix without management intervention. Kevin Duggan’s emphasis on creating standard work for abnormal flow hits one of the biggest gaps in most continuous improvement initiatives. This book will change the way that you think about continuous improvement and the case studies will demonstrate that it works.”

“The approach outlined here can transform the phrase ‘leapfrog the competition’ from cliché to reality. Kevin’s approach is clear, the method sound, and the results achievable. Don’t just read this book: use it!”

Jack McQuellon, Global Parts Manager,
Caterpillar Paving Products

“In Design for Operational Excellence, Kevin Duggan provides a framework that focuses on the real endgame—levering operational excellence as a means of driving business growth. This book provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to designing and implementing value streams and supporting processes that will enable a business to assertively grow the top line as well as the bottom line.”

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About The Institute for Operational Excellence

The Institute for Operational Excellence is a recognized leader and expert resource for organizations and individuals who want to design their enterprise to achieve Operational Excellence. Our renowned faculty has helped hundreds of global companies – from startups to Fortune 500 firms – with a wide range of offerings including training events, online teaching, conference speakers and informational articles.